Two new arthropod toxins purified from the venom of the Mexican scorpion Centruroides nigrescens

Posted by
  Two new arthropod toxins purified from the venom of the Mexican scorpion Centruroides nigrescens Abstract The venom of the slender black scorpion Centruroides nigrescens , from the State of Guerrero México, was fractionated by Sephadex G–50 gel filtration, followed by carboxymethyl cellulose ion separation and high–performance liquid chromatography, permitting to obtain two new peptides toxic to arthropods. The estimate LD 50 of the soluble venom for the insect Acheta domesticus was 11.1 μg/g body weight, and for the arthropod Armadillidium vulgare was 61.1 μg body weight . The amino acid sequence of toxin Cnige1 (toxic to A. domesticus and A. vulgare ) contains 65 amino acids, with a molecular mass of 7273.37 mass units, whereas toxin Cnige2, toxic to A. domesticus , contains 68 amino acids, with a molecular mass of 7548.81 units. Both peptides are well packed, containing 8 cysteines, which in the native venoms are forming 4 disulfide bridges each. The amino acid sequences f...

Unveiling the Protein Components of the Secretory-Venom Gland and Venom of the Scorpion Centruroides possanii (Buthidae) through Omic Technologies

Posted by

 


Unveiling the Protein Components of the Secretory-Venom Gland and Venom of the Scorpion Centruroides possanii (Buthidae) through Omic Technologies


Abstract
Centruroides possanii is a recently discovered species of “striped scorpion” found in Mexico. Certain species of Centruroides are known to be toxic to mammals, leading to numerous cases of human intoxications in the country. Venom components are thought to possess therapeutic potential and/or biotechnological applications. Hence, obtaining and analyzing the secretory gland transcriptome and venom proteome of C. possanii is relevant, and that is what is described in this communication. Since this is a newly described species, first, its LD50 to mice was determined and estimated to be 659 ng/g mouse weight. Using RNA extracted from this species and preparing their corresponding cDNA fragments, a transcriptome analysis was obtained on a Genome Analyzer (Illumina) using the 76-base pair-end sequencing protocol. Via high-throughput sequencing, 19,158,736 reads were obtained and ensembled in 835,204 sequences. Of them, 28,399 transcripts were annotated with Pfam. A total of 244 complete transcripts were identified in the transcriptome of C. possanii. Of these, 109 sequences showed identity to toxins that act on ion channels, 47 enzymes, 17 protease inhibitors (PINs), 11 defense peptides (HDPs), and 60 in other components. In addition, a sample of the soluble venom obtained from this scorpion was analyzed using an Orbitrap Velos apparatus, which allowed for identification by liquid chromatography followed by mass spectrometry (LC-MS/MS) of 70 peptides and proteins: 23 toxins, 27 enzymes, 6 PINs, 3 HDPs, and 11 other components. Until now, this work has the highest number of scorpion venom components identified through omics technologies. The main novel findings described here were analyzed in comparison with the known data from the literature, and this process permitted some new insights in this field.

García-Villalvazo, Patricia Elizabeth, Juana María Jiménez-Vargas, Gisela Jareth Lino-López, Erika Patricia Meneses, Manuel de Jesús Bermúdez-Guzmán, Carlos Eduardo Barajas-Saucedo, Iván Delgado Enciso, Lourival Domingos Possani, and Laura Leticia Valdez-Velazquez. 2023. "Unveiling the Protein Components of the Secretory-Venom Gland and Venom of the Scorpion Centruroides possanii (Buthidae) through Omic Technologies" Toxins 15, no. 8: 498. https://doi.org/10.3390/toxins15080498